


Of Course I'll Defend Her

by mylatestobssession



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, Protective Robert, arsehole Pierce, mentions of sexual assault (alicia), nothing heavy at all, trash mouth sugden returns, whingy chrissie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 19:17:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8590465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylatestobssession/pseuds/mylatestobssession
Summary: Robert comes home to the pub to find Pierce getting mad at Liv and immediately jumps to her defence.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Consider the lack of robron for the next two weeks, I doubt we will get any input from them over Pierce/Liv drama that is brewing here is my take.

Against all his expectations, Robert had managed to finish work an hour earlier. Nicola would be happy that he had emailed all their clients and got another contract. Much to Aaron's dismay he had decided to head back to the pub rather than wait for Aaron, who had spent the majority of the day trying to distract Robert in an attempt to take advantage of Adam being gone on a job all day. Chuckling to himself at the look on Aaron's face as he drove away from the scrapyard he pulled into the pubs car park. He went through to the back room wanting to have a drink and a bit to eat before heading into the bar to see what was going on. As he went to switch the kettle on her heard the should of raised voices coming from the pub. It didn't phase him, living in a pub meant that it was a regular occurrence. 

He was not however expecting to find a tearful Liv storming through the backroom and up to her room. A disgruntled Chas followed behind her calling her name but Liv ignored her and they both heard the sound of a bedroom door being slammed shut. 

"Do I want to ask what that was about?" Robert asks Chas. 

"Pierce" she replies simply. 

"Pierce?" why on earth would she be so upset over Pierce. 

"Yeah" 

"Why?" 

"He had a go last week when she was helping in the kitchen and accidentally spilt hot custard over Rhona and now he seems to have this idea that she has been sending Rhona flowers and signing them from Paddy." 

"Has she?" he asks frowning. 

"I don't know, I haven't had time to ask her yet" she gestures towards Liv's room. 

"Right, one of has to go and speak to her. Shall we do rock, paper, scissors for the honour." he jokes. 

"Nah your alright. I'll leave the honour to you." Chas smirks before heading back out into the bar. 

Robert climbs the stairs with a slight trepidation. This would be the first time he would have spoken to Liv without the backing support of Aaron or Chas. Maybe he should ring Aaron. He wanted to, he felt out of his depth but he also knew that Aaron was likely to overreact and make the situation worse. He knocks on her door. No response. Big surprise. He tries again, still no response. 

"Liv, I know you are upset but I would like the facts before I go back down and have a go at Pierce." 

He hears the shift of bed springs and has just enough time to step back from the door before it is flung open. The first thing he notices about her is the red rings around her eyes. She has been crying. He feels his blood boil a little. 

"Why are you going to talk to Pierce?" she asks confused. 

"Because as much as I find you irritating and like to wind you up. I don't like to see you upset." 

She gives him a small smile but doesn't give another form of response. Robert has the overwhelming urge to pull her into a hug but isn't sure she would appreciate it so he keeps his distance. 

"Have you been sending flowers to Rhona from Paddy?" he asks gently. 

Liv pulls a face before giving the tiniest of nods. 

"Did he ask you too?"

She shakes her head. He waits patiently for her to explain why she did it. 

"He still likes her. It's obvious but he wasn't going to do anything about it so I decided to give it a little nudge. I didn't think people would be so upset about it. It was only flowers." 

Robert stood there suddenly struck with how young Liv was. Not in a bad way but in the way most adults forget that teenagers are still children and will make mistakes or they won't always see the consequences of their actions. Besides the odd hick up and the tendency to skip school, not unlike her brother, Liv was a mature kid for her age, particularly in how she handled everything with Gordon and her mother moving to Ireland. He felt such a strong need to protect her, one that he had only ever felt for Victoria. With that thought he gestured for her to follow him downstairs and they headed into the bar as a united front. 

Pierce and Rhona were sat in a booth in the corner keeping quietly to themselves. Not surprising to Robert that there was a decent size audience for this. It was almost as if the villagers knew when something was going to happen and they had to get a front row seat. Without breaking his stride he walked straight over to them and loudly cleared his throat to announce his presence. In the corner of his eye he notices Pearl taking an interest. 

They both look up. Rhona offering a kind smile in greeting. Pierce narrows his eyes. 

"I believe you owe somebody an apology." He says gesturing towards Liv. As he does so he notices that she is no longer next to him but is stood by Chas who has her arm protectively around her. 

"If anyone needs to give an apology it is that brat over there." Pierce spits angrily at Robert, pointing at Liv. Robert smirks, the same smirk he now has reserved for whenever he has to deal with unpleasant clients or the whites. 

"See I don't think she does." he keeps his tone calm especially aware of the entire pub watching the exchange. 

Pierce stands up his frustration and anger clear for everyone to see. "She has been meddling in my relationship." 

"She is a fourteen year old girl, how much of a threat can she be?" he asks incredulously. 

"She has been helping that" he points to Paddy. "try to get Rhona away from me." 

Robert can't believe that he just said those words. 

"Now just for a second I could have sworn you were the fourteen year old." he laughs. "Now you listen to me, I don't care about your pissing contest with Paddy over Rhona. Who quite frankly based on what I have seen from you both should really take a moment to think why she bothers with either of you. But what I do care about is you taking out what ever frustration/anger you have on Liv. Now this is your only warning. You treat her like the crap on your shoe again and her sending flowers to Rhona will be the least of your problems. So do yourself a favour and back off."

The pub becomes silent as everyone waits with bated breath to see what Pierce is going to do next. 

"What's going on?" Aaron asks as he walks into the silent pub. The scene in front of him is definitely not what he expected. Robert and Pierce stood maybe 10 cm apart staring daggers at each other, Rhona looking incredibly uncomfortable and Liv stood at the bar being hugged by his mum. 

Robert looks up, his face passive. "Oh nothing just making sure that Pierce knows where he stands. Shall we go through to the back." 

Aaron nods and walks through the silent pub. As Robert walks with him Chrissie pipes up. "It's nice to see that you actually stick up for your partners sister. Shame you couldn't do that for my son." 

Aaron grips his arm knowing full well that he will respond. Chrissie smirks knowing she has got to him.

"See the thing is Chrissie. Liv misjudged a situation she didn't fully understand. Which as a kid can be expected. Lachlan however is a sick twisted pervert of a boy he forces himself on unsuspecting women. On what level would I defend him." 

The smirk instantly drops from her face but Robert goes through to the back with Aaron and Liv. The minute the door closes Liv finally pipes up. 

"God that was embarrassing and here I was thinking you'd be the safer option. Talk about overreacting." She says it all with a huge smirk and surprises both Aaron and Robert by going to hug Robert, who clumsily returns it. 

"Thanks." She leaves them claiming she has homework. 

"So am I going to be filled in or?" 

"I've sorted it. If he has any sense he wont be having a go at Liv anytime soon." 

"Yeah I saw you having a word." Aaron's voice drops an octave. "It was hot"

Robert raises his eyebrows. "Oh really." 

"Yeah" 

Aaron pulls Robert into a fierce kiss wasting no time moving his hand through his hair and using his other hand to bring their hips together. They break apart when they can no longer avoid the need to breathe. 

"hmm maybe we should relieve the old days and head back to the scrap yard. When is Adam going to be back again?"

**Author's Note:**

> i have a tumblr http://mylatestobssession.tumblr.com/  
> feel free to come and say hi or send me a prompt :)


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